Should you Encounter a Wolf
by Varmint
Summary: AU! A very young Kiba meets a rather odd stranger.
1. Encounter with a Wolf

It was wrong.

This man was the embodiment of darkness.

But… There was something about him… It was in his scent. Something that smelled like _home._ Something that reminded the young six-year-old of the life he had once lived. A life with a mother, father, sister, and a whole litter of dogs around him. This man smelled _safe_ even with the death that oozed from every pore on his person.

The cold bit at him and forced his small body to shiver. It was a miracle he had managed to survive for so long. Well… That _and_ the ever watchful Kuromaru. But the large canine wasn't anywhere to be found- he'd left with promises of looking for food- and he was really hungry.

And that piece of meat the man was offering looked delicious…

"Well?" The masked man bit out tensely. "Are you going to take it or not?"

The piece of meat was bounced slightly by the man, as if to prompt the boy into action.

But his mother had drilled caution of odd smelling people into him since he had been old enough to crawl. And even though she had been gone for a while now, those lessons had stayed in the young boy's mind. And this stranger's scent was drenched in blood and death and he had been taught to stay away from people that smelled like that.

"You don't smell like a good guy."

It wasn't a question. He was merely pointing out an observation.

The man chuckled. It was a deep and cold sound, there didn't seem to be any warmth inside of him. "What would you say I smell like? A _bad guy_?" He asked in turn, voice sounding tickled but not humored.

The boy knew the man didn't want to hear an answer. But that didn't mean he was about to stay quiet.

"Like the men that killed my family. That's what you smell like."

The man quirked an eyebrow at the boy's answer. Then, after a moment in which neither of them spoke passed, asked, "An orphan, huh?" in a slight lilt, seemingly unfazed by the boy's indirect admittance to being one. But he didn't care for an answer and instead bounced the piece of chicken once more.

"So, what do you say? Stay in this village with a clan that has forsaken you? Or come with me and learn how to be a true hunter?"

At the mention of his clan, the boy lifted both his hands up to his cheeks. Up to the black fangs that had once been a vibrant red and marked him as a proud member of the Inuzuka Clan. They had been painted over.

He had been kicked out of his clan as soon as Kuromaru had brought him back, blood staining his skin and tears running down his cheeks. They had spared no chance in getting rid of him. He was the runt of Tsume's litter and had never even been considered for clan heir while his older sister had been around. Much less after he had fled from a battle like a coward just to survive.

The pack always came first… He just wasn't considered part of that pack anymore.

"You're not nice."

"You like pointing out the obvious, don't you?"

"And you smell like fish."

"Blame my heritage."

"… Why do you wear a mask?"

"I may just answer that question once you've proved yourself."

Taking a moment to think, the young boy breathed in and nodded shakily.

What else did he have to lose?

Kuromaru would take a few more hours to come back… _If_ he came back. The dog could have also just gotten fed up with taking care of him and left him to the elements.

"O-Okay…" Then the boy blinked and shook his head softly, "Wait a minute, I'm not supposed to talk to strangers. But you wouldn't be a stranger if I knew your name."

The man looked at him for a second, then the corners of his masked lips turned upwards and he let out a sound that was a cross between a scoff and a chuckle.

"Zabuza. Now come along, boy. I don't have all night."

The piece of meat was thrown at the boy and he caught it immediately, beginning to eat it hungrily, savagely. His stomach felt more hollow than those old, large vases his father used to keep around the house. It even felt as if it were trying to eat itself.

When he was halfway done eating the food, the boy looked up at the man- Zabuza was a rather odd name- and smiled softly.

"I'm Kiba."

 **So, three things can happen with this small blurb:**

 **1) I could make a story about Kiba growing up as Zabuza's apprentice, although that is unlikely.**

 **2) I could make a group of AU-ish one-shots dealing with a young Kiba interacting and meeting with rather interesting characters. Like how his meeting with Kisame might go, or with Deidara, or even with Misuki or Itachi.**

 **or 3) I could just leave this as a one-shot.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think the best idea would be.**


	2. Stealing Isn't Right Most of the Time

Zabuza was an odd man. He didn't like a lot of things. Especially if Kiba happened to like them.

"I like this."

"You can't have it."

"... But... _Why_?"

"Because _I_ don't like it."

"That doesn't stop you from letting me have it."

"Yes it does. When you choose something good to buy, I may think about it. Until then, you won't get shit."

This was the same conversation they always had whenever Kiba found something that caught his eye in any of the markets they happened to visit. No matter what it happened to be, the man never allowed Kiba to buy anything he wanted. Instead, he only bought things he deemed 'essential'. And while Kiba could understand the need to stock up on dried goods and non-perishable foods, he could not wrap his head around the idea of a brand new pair of leg warmers for the man being in the same category.

"Can I get a dog?"

Kiba kind of missed having a canine companion with him at all times. Could you truly blame him? He had grown up around dogs at all time. And now he was thrust into a new world where dogs stole your food rather than shared it. It was really all new. And Zabuza had gotten kind of annoyed with him for giving that one puppy half of his chicken leg... But Kiba had wanted to keep it.

"No. It would only slow us down."

If anyone were to say that he was, Kiba was in fact _not_ pouting. The boy merely jutted out his bottom lip in a sign of pure contempt for the overly strict man he had joined.

Why had he joined the man again? It was a question that popped into his mind a lot. He had lived a pretty good life in Konoha. Sure, he hadn't been part of his clan anymore and lived off the kindness of others, but that hadn't meant that he had lived _bad._ And he had at least had Kuromaru with him back then. What did he have now? A grumpy Mist Ninja that smelled like fish, death, and blood, who didn't seem to know the meaning of sharing.

"No it wouldn't. I would carry it and I run pretty goodly after you."

"That's a mistake."

"What's a mistake?"

"Just about everything when it has to do with you."

Kiba huffed and crossed his arms over his chest at this point, stomping his foot down to fully stop walking.

"If I'm such a big mistake, then why did you want me to come with you?" The boy glared at the tall man's back, even though Zabuza didn't even glance back as he continued to walk in the direction of their destination.

The man was unlike anyone Kiba had ever met before. He was rude, snarky, mean, and barely ever gave him a straightforward answer unless it was 'No, stop being an idiot.' And even though he was only a kid, he knew that if this man was truly his caretaker now, he should be at least a bit more forthcoming with information. Especially considering how they had not told anybody he was leaving Konoha with Zabuza. His mother had always warned him against speaking to strangers... But she wasn't around anymore...

Tears begun to sting at the boy's eyes at the reminder of his now long gone mother.

She had never been the warmest person. But she had been kind. And she gave him answers when he asked. Even if he didn't like them, she gave them. And he missed his sister too. And his father. And his whole clan. And his whole village. And... What was he doing in this place where the green of the forest never seemed to break and people never seemed to notice anything?

He didn't want to be around Zabuza anymore. He was a meanie. And a jerk.

Why did he have to be such a jerk?

Sniffling, Kiba began to really regret ever having left his home.

"At least I had it good over there. One more year and I would have been able to ask the Hokage to throw me into an orphanage..."

He had been regulated in everything, forced to live like a bum even though he had once been clan related. And that was because once someone was kicked out of a clan, they had a year to persevere or fail completely. If one year had passed and Kiba hadn't been able to truly care for himself, then the Hokage would have been able to help him. But, until then, he would have had to fend for himself.

If only he hadn't allowed his hunger to get the best of him!

As he sniffled once more over his terrible decision making skills, a rather interesting and enticing smell entered his nose. It smelled like the cookies his father and sister used to bake during the winter holidays. And, as he sniffed further, Kiba noted that it also had something like cooked chicken entwined into the scent.

His stomach seemed to overpower his senses most of the time. But could he really be blamed?

The food smelled delicious. And he was starving. And Zabuza was a big jerk.

What else could possibly go wrong?

The boy padded away from where Zabuza had left him with a curious look on his face, wondering just why the food he was smelling so much like Konoha. During the few days he had been travelling with Zabuza, he had noticed that food smelled differently everywhere they went. But this one smelled just like home. And it was really weird.

After a few minutes of sniffing at the air and following his nose (all the while ignoring any random passerby that accidentally shoved into him as they hurried back to their homes or whatever), Kiba came to a small group of rental houses. Zabuza had told them that this was a touristic town that catered to most tourists from out of town. Especially the kind that stayed for long and had to waste a lot of money on their travels.

The smell was wafting from the house on the outer left corner of the neighborhood made up of rental homes. And when Kiba hauled himself up by the windowsill to look inside, he found two women inside. One with black hair was busy cooking while another with blonde hair was grouching about something or another.

He quickly ducked his head back under the window when the black haired one look up at the window, not wanting to get caught.

"Come on, Lady Tsunade, you can't possibly want to go out to gamble right after I've made dinner!" The black haired woman sounded kind of like his mom used to back when he and Hana argued too much.

"It's just one more game, Shizune! I have to make those bastards eat their words!" The blonde growled back, and Kiba couldn't help but mouth the odd new word. 'Bastard'. What did that mean?

"You've already wasted more than half of our money!"

"It's just a small game! Now, hurry up and finish with your food. You're my good luck charm."

A few minutes passed in which the women moved around and didn't speak again. But, after waiting patiently by the window, Kiba found that they left the home with the windows left open and the food hot and ready to be eaten.

The young boy allowed the women to be completely out of his sight before he made any moves. Then he climbed in through the window he had spied through, jumped over the sink it was placed over, and smiled broadly over at the pot of rice and wok filled with all kinds of beautiful foods, all ready to be plated and eaten.

Unfortunately, because he had no idea where the plates in this place were left, Kiba wasn't able to serve himself in a plate. But he wasn't the kind to give up, especially when hungry, and so grabbed the large spoon that had been used to stir the rice and began to eat from there. Seated on the wooden counter beside the stove, the young boy ate the first hot meal he had come across in a very long time.

He was so hungry that he barely even felt the heat burn his tongue. And when he took off the lid that covered the wok and reached in for a piece of meat, he didn't even notice how hot it truly was as he grabbed it.

He ate quickly and savagely. He had no idea when those women would come back and he wanted to eat as much as he could before they did.

Still, about midway through his meal, a familiar scent overpowered that of the food. And a few seconds after it appeared, Zabuza clambered in through the very window Kiba had used, a dark glare on his face.

"What do you think you're doing, kid?" The man growled, stomping over to the boy with glare poised on him.

But Kiba merely glared back, "I'm _eating_."

A few seconds passed in which nothing happened. Kiba chewed and glared while Zabuza only glared. But, soon enough, the man shook his head, moved over to one of the cabinets that Kiba would never be able to reach even if he stood on his tippytoes on the counter he sat on, then grabbed two large plates from inside.

"Give me that thing."

Kiba was reluctant to part with his food. But seeing how Zabuza had brought out two plates, the boy quickly deducted that he would not be cheated from a meal and so handed the large spoon over.

Zabuza served two rather large helpings of rice before moving over to the wok, and then pulled out a few drawers rather briskly before finding the utensils he had been looking for. While this happened, Kiba merely sat at the counter, watching the man work. Then, the man handed over a pair of chopsticks before using his own to grab the food from the wok and placing another large helping on the plates.

Once both plates were finished, Zabuza handed one over to Kiba. "Eat fast." He hissed, then turned around, pulled down his mask, and began to eat.

Kiba had never seen him without the mask on. But, right now, hunger still beat out anything else. So the young boy ate quickly and with much appreciation for the cooking skills of the black haired woman.

Once they were both done eating, Zabuza moved his mask back in place, opened the refrigerator by the stove, took out a bottle of _something_ , smirked, and pocketed it. Then he grabbed a jug of what looked like orange juice and handed it over to Kiba. The young boy struggled to grab the big object with his hands, but managed to drink from it before handing it back to the man, who returned it to the fridge.

"Let's go."

For a second, Kiba hesitated.

Was he really going to continue on Zabuza's wild adventures? Where would they take him? Would it be worth it in the end?

But his opportunity of choosing whether he should go with Zabuza or not was taken away from him by the man grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, throwing him over his large shoulder, and jumping out of the window they had come in through.

Vaguely, the boy noted hearing shouts of surprise when the women came back to find that their delicious food had mysteriously disappeared.

But all he could think about as Zabuza ran with him on his shoulder was that he should learn how to cook.

Zabuza would never properly cook for him. But... If he were to _learn_ , then he'd always have a hot meal to eat.

 **So I have decided that I shall continue in a mix of both ideas! Kiba's interactions with new people as Zabuza's apprentice. What do y'all think? Worth it?**

 **Please review and tell me what y'all think.**


	3. In Comes Akamaru

The next town they went to was as boring as the one Kiba had been able to steal some food from and just about _every other_ town they had visited.

He had once been erroneously lead to believe that the Land of Fire was a large and vast land with many different things to find. But after being lugged around by Zabuza to just about ten different towns that seemed _exactly the same_ , the ex-Inuzuka had come to the conclusion that his teachers had been liars and needed to travel more.

Zabuza was set on walking past the litter of puppies. But Kiba wasn't about to pass up the chance to try and grab a dog to raise, so he made his way immediately over to the box.

Recently, the man's choice of work had become clear to Kiba. It had been obvious before to the boy, the man's scent was inundated with blood and death. But the ex-Inuzuka had just attributed that to being a retired ninja from the Mist when he had first met the man. Now, though, that they had spent too much time together and Kiba had seen him covered in the blood of his enemies while counting his newly acquired money, the mon's current profession was more than obvious.

They'd never had a talk about why Zabuza wanted Kiba around. The man had just kind of begun to train him in the art of tracking and hunting without even telling Kiba that this was what he was doing. The only reason Kiba knew that it was training and not just interesting games of hunt and catch because his mother and father used to play these games with him before.

Kiba's pride swelled in knowing that Zabuza was actually taken aback by him being more than just average when it came to sniffing out the buried pieces of chicken.

"You're not getting one."

The man didn't even have to turn around and look back at his charge to know that Kiba was already crouched beside the box of free puppies. But Kiba merely stuck his tongue out at him and picked up the smallest pup in the box, one with brown spots on his ears and an adorable brown nose.

It barked and seemed to smile at him, all the while his tail began to wag wildly.

"I'm going to call you..." Kiba thought for a moment, then smiled broadly. "Gigi!"

The dog's tail stopped wagging then. The boy looked at him for a second, pursed his lips, then nodded.

"You're right. That's no name for a nin dog." Kiba consented, then brought the dog closer to his chest. "You need something awesome, like Kuromaru... But you're not black, so you can't be Kuromaru Jr."

"Kid, put the dog down and keep walking."

Kiba ignored Zabuza's growl to instead begin to ruffle the scraggly fur at the top of the pup's head. "You're pretty white... And cute... And awesome... Awesome... White..." The boy fumbled for his knowledge of clan names for dogs, then gasped and smiled brightly at the pup. "Akamaru!"

At the new name, the dog yipped and its tail began to wag wildly again.

"Akamaru! It's perfect!"

A shadow loomed over him now and when Kiba looked up, he found Zabuza glaring down at him.

"You're not going to leave that dog alone, are you?"

"Not at all." Kiba smiled cheekily up at the man, making him growl.

"What if I were to kill him? You wouldn't be able to drag him around then."

Kiba, instead of reacting to the violent threat, merely hugged the pup tightly with a smile still on his face.

"Aren't we supposed to be tracking down a target now?"

There was a moment of silence in which Zabuza just looked down at him. "How did you know that?"

"Because you always do the same thing in each town. We arrive, you head over to the target's position, you kill them, and then come back with blood and money. If you thought you were being careful, you're an idiot." Kiba smirked at the man, then placed the pup down on the floor with a final pat on the head. "If you don't let me keep Akamaru, I'll foil your assassination."

At this, Zabuza crossed his arms and quirked an eyebrow questioningly. "And just _how_ would you do that?"

Kiba had never smiled wider before. "It'll be hard to cash in on a target that's already dead and missing, right?"

"You're not that good, kid."

"Wanna try me, Zabuza?"

"You have no connections."

"If that's what you want to believe." Kiba shrugged, then looked down at Akamaru. "Come on, boy. We have a bounty to cash in on."

He heard Zabuza scoff cockily. But Kiba just smiled broadly and ran off with Akamaru at his heels.

Zabuza would see just how dangerous he could truly be.

~/~

The next morning, Kiba walked up to Zabuza with a broad smile on his face and a wad of bills in his pockets. And when he offered them to the man, the Mist nin actually almost gasped. He didn't, though, much to Kiba's annoyance.

"Where'd you steal this from?"

Akamaru barked at the insult, even though Kiba just smiled. "Tracking and hunting is my greatest skill, Zabuza. I hunted the target down, incapacitated him, and cashed in on his grubby body." Then he winked at the man, "Sometimes they pay more for a live target than a severed head."

Zabuza grunted at the boy's words, but still pocketed the money the kid had handed over.

Kiba wasn't all that annoyed by it. He had known Zabuza would most probably take all of his money. So he had taken out a part of the winnings to be able to buy a few things he'd want next time they went anywhere.

The subject of Akamaru being allowed to stay was never spoken of again. Zabuza never said he _wouldn't_ kill the pup. But he also didn't say he _would_.

And as they walked over to the next town and the next bounty, Kiba and Akamaru had a great time making impressions of the man. Zabuza, though, didn't have such a great time.

It was nice to have a dog with him again. Kiba had kind of missed the feeling of having a _loyal_ companion around. Zabuza counted as a companion... But he wasn't all that sure if _loyal_ was the correct word to use. Maybe insane was a better word? _Insane companion._ Yeah. That sounded just about right. Insane companion.

 **Please review. And to those celebrating it today, I wish y'all an awesome Thanksgiving. And to everyone else, I wish y'all a great day!**


	4. Meet Sharky and Red Eyes

"Where are we going now?"

A long suffered sigh left Zabuza as soon as the ex-Inuzuka had spoken up.

A few weeks had passed since Akamaru had been added to their small traveling group. And those two together had managed to piss him off at least ten times in that time span.

From foiling assassinations because of hunger to using his large sword as a viable _cooking tool_ , both the boy and the dog had earned quite a bit of the man's rage and disdain.

"If you don't stop being an idiot, I'll skin you alive."

"No you won't." The little bastard smiled cheekily over at the man, all the while Akamaru barked in agreement. And even though Zabuza knew it was physically impossible, it looked as if the pup was wearing a twin smile. "We bring in too much money for you to ever get rid of us. A poor boy and his starving pup bring in more pity pays than a sad old man like you."

With an audible sigh, Zabuza cuffed the back of Kiba's head. Then he answered the initial question. "I have to do something important today. And because an old ally of mine owes me, you're going to stay with him."

He knew that Kiba immediately suspected some kind of foul play. Even though he'd never actively tried to get rid of him and Akamaru, the boy most probably wouldn't put it past Zabuza to try and sell them off for profit.

But with this score, he _really_ couldn't bargain on the boy's kind feelings. Sometimes the kid decided he wanted to be nice and didn't interfere at all with his assassinations. But oftentimes he decided to be a nuisance and interrupted Zabuza with the help of his annoying pup, which made Zabuza regret ever having chosen him to be his student.

But then he noticed just how good the kid was at tracking down their targets and some of that regret faded.

If only he could make the kid more agreeable and pliant...

"I can't have you pulling any stunts, kid." Zabuza informed the boy, who looked at him with distrust. "But once I've finished up with the score, I promise to teach you a new form for fighting. One with the sword. You've wanted to learn that for a while, haven't you?"

The boy looked at him skeptically for a second before nodding, "... I have..." But he was still wary and Zabuza felt both annoyed and proud to have the boy doubt him so easily.

"Then I'll be teaching you once I come back. But until then you have to behave with the person I'm going to give you to. He doesn't have the best temper and is known for enjoying the taste of little kids."

Akamaru yipped suddenly at the information and Zabuza felt both bad and amused.

He hated how the kid and the pup made him feel. But as long as he was able to cover it up with annoyance and irritation, he'd be fine.

With these final words, they fell into silence. Kiba followed Zabuza without any smart quips and this made the man count his lucky stars. Silence with these two usually meant they were planning something bad. But from the way Akamaru had clearly been scared, they were most probably just thinking up of ways to survive with this unknown ally.

When they reached the location he and his ally had agreed upon, Zabuza held the door open for Kiba to walk inside first. The boy glared slightly at him and hugged Akamaru tightly to his chest, then refused to move any further into the tea shop until Zabuza was in front of him.

Finding the old brute wasn't difficult. Especially when he and his partner stuck out like black and red sore thumbs.

"Kisame."

The blue skinned jerk turned around when he heard his name, looking Zabuza over before giving a menacing smirk.

"You're actually alive."

Zabuza was prepared to answer cheekily. But, like always, the little dog loving brat beat him to the punch.

"And you're pointing out the obvious, Sharky."

For a moment, Zabuza regretted ever having asked Kisame and his partner to look after the kid while he took care of his target. If he was lucky, he'd get a corpse back. If he wasn't, Kisame would just give him a cheeky smile and tell him that he wasn't to be held accountable for kids that were eaten.

But then the blue skinned idiot's eyes widened comically and his mouth hung slightly ajar, which was a rather amusing look to see on the ex-Swordsman of the Mist.

The shock quickly faded and his eyes narrowed while his lips curved into a sneer, but the damage had already been done. That one moment of weakness was all Kiba would have needed. And it was clear from the way Akamaru's tail began to wag almost excitedly.

"So, you're going to be my babysitter, Sharky?"

"Don't call me that!"

"There's no need to shout." Then Kiba looked over at the other man sitting in Kisame's table and immediately found him more interesting than the aggressive monster. "You have cool eyes."

The dark haired male stiffened for a second before nodding at the boy, "Thank you."

And Kisame tried to get Kiba's attention once more, but the boy had decided that Itachi was more interesting.

So, while Kisame growled like an angered and ignored pup and Kiba ignored him, Zabuza took his chance to leave unnoticed. He would return once he had finished up with his target.

* * *

"So... What do you guys do?"

"If you don't shut up, I'll fuckin-"

"You could call us bounty hunters."

Kisame sneered at Itachi as he was interrupted by him for what seemed like the hundredth time, then crossed his arms and looked away from him and the tattooed kid.

They were currently walking down the small town's business district and Kiba was busy asking all kinds of questions.

It kind of hurt to not have any of those questions directed to him...

"You're not as mean as the weird smelling old man. I like you more." The kid nodded and looked as if he had just decided on something that was as urgent as life or death, all the while the pup on his head barked in agreement. "Even Sharky is less mean than him."

"Why won't you stop calling me that?" Kisame snapped, glaring down at the boy.

He could tell this was Zabuza's student from the way he didn't even flinch at his actions. Instead the boy looked up at him with a broad, shit-eating smile.

"Because you're a shark, Sharky. And I don't respect you enough to call you _Mr._ Sharky. So Sharky it is."

Underwhelmed by the answer, Kisame made his emotions clear. "You are one of the dumbest kids I have ever come across."

"I'm not dumb because I don't fear you." The boy commented with a shrug, "I don't fear you because you are dumb."

The words had Kisame hating the boy even further.

"Kiba, would you like to buy anything to eat? We have been walking for quite a while."

He also hated the damned Uchiha for getting along with him so well.

"Wait, I can buy food?" The kid blinked in actual surprise, "The old man never lets me buy anything. He says I'm not worth wasting the money."

Itachi's eyes narrowed at what the kid had said, then he patted the boy on the shoulder, "Don't worry about that. He won't say anything like that after Kisame and I have gotten through with him. Now, go and pick out something to eat."

"Hear that, boy? We can eat something hot for once!"

Okay, hearing how badly Zabuza treated the kid kind of worried Kisame. But the boy seemed to be well fed enough.

The kid ran off to the nearest stand of meat and began to order like a man that had not seen food in years, making Kisame feel bad for the large dent there would be in his wallet.

"We're not really going to talk to him, are-" He began to ask Itachi, only to be cut off by a glare.

"He's not even a genin yet and that old partner of yours is treating him like shit. We _will_ talk to him."

Kisame really felt like telling Itachi that he only felt this way because of how close this kid and his own brother were in age, but decided to bite his tongue. The Uchiha was clearly pissed. And telling him something like that was ensuring his own demise.

"Yeah. Fine. Whatever." Kisame breathed out, then looked at the boy as he stuffed his cheeks full of meat, all the while his puppy accompanied him in gorging himself. "He seems to be fine enough."

"Hoshigaki, shut up."

With this final command, Itachi went over to Kiba and began to charm his way out of paying full price for the meat, all the while the young woman tending to the stand swooned at his beauty.

As this happened, Kisame couldn't help but grumble and pout just slightly, insult ringing strongly in his chest.

Stupid Uchiha. Thought he was so damned great just because he had a way with kids, women, teenagers, old people, and some men.

Damned bastard.

 **Please review.**


	5. Adorable Little Kid Needs Saving! Part 1

Kiba figured something rather important out now that he was stuck traveling with Zabuza to this newest village. He _hated_ the heat. And sand. And Akamaru did as too because his paws burned if he tried to walk by himself, which left him to be carried, nestled inside the backpack Kiba was carrying.

"What are we doing here?" Kiba hissed as he glared up at the old man, who didn't seem to be the least bit affected by the heat. "And why are we wearing such long clothes? It's so hot we should be wearing _less_ clothes than usual."

"That is not how the desert works, kid." The man sighed softly, "If you were to wear less clothes, you'd burn your whole body. This way you only expose a bit of your eyes."

They were both wearing enough protection to ensure that neither would be getting any kind of sunburn. And Kiba believed it was a load of balogney and the man merely wanted to torture him and Akamaru passively. Because he'd even given Akamaru cloth to wrap up in to, supposedly, protect him from the danger that was the scorching desert sun.

"I don't trust you." Kiba huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, only to release them when the heat from his arms met with his already uncomfortably hot chest.

"I've never asked you to."

"Then why am I even with you?"

"Because having a trusty sidekick like you don't hurt."

At this Kiba glared at the man, "I told you I didn't trust you."

The man's steps never faltered as he continued to walk, although he looked down at Kiba with a smirk. "True. But you love me too much to ever betray me. So _I_ can trust _you._ "

The ex-Inuzuka wanted to shout at the man and tell him that he was completely capable of turning him over for profit. But, with a sudden halt, he noticed that Zabuza was, infuriatingly, correct.

He was too loyal... Stupid Inuzuka heritage! Made him be all loyal...

Akamaru barked from behind him, telling him that Stupid Mask wasn't being a completely retarded ass for the first time in forever, which made Kiba hiss at him to shut up.

"I still hate you..." The youth grumbled softly after he'd finished scolding Akamaru for speaking the truth, then glared down at the sand he was forced to tread over as he continued to walk once more.

Kiba didn't expect the man's large hand to fall on his head. But when he did, he jumped a mile high, scared Akamaru, and hissed at the man.

"What do you think you're doing?! I thought we just discussed that you needed me!"

Zabuza looked back at him with a completely unamused and disinterested look to the half of his face that could be seen, then crossed his arms, even though it was barely seen through the poncho he wore. "What in the world is wrong with you now, kid?!"

"What's wrong with me?!" The boy shouted out incredulously, then pointed at his head, "What in the world's wrong with _you_?! Why are you touching me!? I'll scream rape!"

At this threat, Zabuza's smirk was replaced by a sneer and he pointed at the fiery child, "Listen here, you little brat, you can't say something like that!"

"Why? 'Cause it'll make sure you get dealt the justice you deserve." The boy with the black fangs on his cheeks turned away from Zabuza with a pleased smirk, "You're the jerk that left me with Sharky and Mr. Red Eyes."

"They have normal names, you know." The man mumbled with a shake of his head, beginning to walk once more. "Anyway, it was a necessary evil. I got my money and now we're able to walk over to this newest job I found. And you've been whining about the forest scenery for a while now. You should be happy I decided to change our surroundings for a while."

Kiba had been feeling content to have riled Zabuza enough to get him pissed again. But when he noticed that the man began to move away from him without their usual angered banter, he felt disconcerted. What had Sharky and Mr. Red Eyes told Zabuza? Sure, it was nice to be able to eat and not go hungry anymore... But he kind of missed arguing with the jerk.

And it was kind of hard to call him a meanie when he really wasn't being one.

"Hey, kid?"

Kiba jogged after the man and looked up at him with a quirked eyebrow, but didn't answer him. The man continued without the boy saying anything though.

"I've been wondering for a while. Where did you learn how to track so well? Not even some intermediate leveled tracker would know some of the tricks you do. Those are things learned through years of tracking, they're not taught. Where did you learn them?"

The question made Kiba shrug, trying to keep his cool, although it brought him back somewhere he didn't want to go. "The Inuzuka Clan is very in tune with their senses... They raise their kids to be hunters for the village because of those senses."

It hurt to remember his family. It hurt to remember his village. It hurt to remember how he had been forced to give them up when his life had been forced upside down by a group of marauders. It hurt to remember how he had been cast aside by his clan the second he had returned home.

Every time he looked in a mirror, _it hurt_.

"Interesting family..." Zabuza commented offhandedly, but didn't say any more.

Kiba appreciated the fact that he didn't try to say anything else.

* * *

"Hey, you lousy jerks, get away from him!"

"Kiba, don't-"

But the boy was running off and lunging at a group of kids a few inches taller than him before Zabuza could stop the spitfire. And from the corner of his eye, Zabuza noted how Akamaru jumped out of his shelter to join the little boy in the fray.

With a sigh, the man shook his head and continued walking towards his informant. The boy was smart enough to know how to find him once he'd finished with his little brawl. And he was skilled and tough enough to take on a group of kids close to his age with little to no training.

"Don't mess with him!" Kiba shouted as he kicked one kid in the face, only to receive a punch to the face from another. "You'll regret that!" He hissed, turning his face so he was looking at the kid that had punched him, and smirked, displaying his sharp canines for the little bitch to see.

Just like he had expected, the kid shouted and tried to run away. But Akamaru biting him on the ankle froze him on the spot, allowing Kiba to deliver a much fiercer punch as payback.

"This guy's insane!" "Run away!" "I want my mommy!" And many more shouts came from the group of about seven or eight kids.

In a matter of seconds the bullies had all disappeared and left Kiba with Akamaru and the little boy he had come to protect.

While he had been walking with Zabuza around the hidden village of Suna, Kiba had been rather bored. Just like in the forest, there was nothing interesting in the desert. Everything had been _so boring_! Then they happened to pass by a playground and Kiba had found a little red haired kid walking over to a group of bigger kids. He had thought it odd, but continued to move with Zabuza.

But when the bigger kids had formed a circle around the smaller one, Kiba had stopped. Then when the stench of anger and fear hit him, the ex-Inuzuka ran off from Zabuza without any explanations.

"You okay, kid?" He asked as he turned to the little kid, who was looking up at him with wide green eyes. "Little jerks... Wish I could have hit them harder."

The little boy's eyes were extremely bright... Like... They could light up a night sky bright... Was that normal? And was the tattoo on the far side of his forehead a clan marking like his own tattoos had once been?

"Y-you're bleeding!" The kid pointed at Kiba's mouth, surprised and beginning to emanate worry.

"Huh?" Kiba asked, then raised his hand to the corner of his mouth to wipe at it. Then he looked down at it, only to find a minute trail of blood. "He hit harder than I expected!"

"I-I can help!"

"What?"

The kid's hands grabbed at Kiba's own before he could truly notice what was happening. Then, with a strength he had not expected to find in someone so small, began to drag Kiba down one of the many sandy streets.

"Where are you taking me, kid?" He asked, all the while Akamaru walked beside them with a bounce in his step.

He wasn't all that worried about danger because Akamaru was a great judge of character. Hated Sharky, tolerated Zabuza, loved Mr. Red Eyes. And if the pup was going along with the red haired kid, it meant that he posed no immediate threat.

"To my Uncle Yashamaru!" The kid squeaked out, tugging at Kiba's hands so the other would move faster. "He'll heal you right up!"

Kiba blinked at the excited little boy, but allowed him to be pulled along.

He didn't know who anybody in this place were... But going to someone's house meant food most of the times. And he was getting kind of hungry right now...

He knew he'd eventually have to go back to Zabuza, but... Oh, those eyes were big and trusting! He couldn't leave the kid alone now! It just wouldn't be right...

Eh, the old man could wait for a little while longer.

 **Please review.**


	6. Adorable Little Kid Needs Saving! Part 2

The kid's house was simple, built in what seemed like sand, and smelled of healing supplies and baking. And the person inside smelled like cookies, sand, and spices, with just a tad bit of blood that allowed Kiba to know that this was a shinobi. But his scent wasn't drenched in death like with Zabuza, Sharky, and Mr. Red Eyes, so he guessed that this guy wasn't as dangerous as those.

"Uncle Yashamaru! Uncle Yashamaru!" The little red haired boy threw the home's door open with this shouting, pulling Kiba inside the place without even stopping to explain anything to Kiba. "Come quick!"

The man's scent had not been far, but it hadn't been close either. But as soon as the kid had shouted out for him, the man's scent became clearer, for the man came running.

"What happened Gaara?" The man ran into the room with the question on his lips, "Did something... Happen..." But when his eyes fell on Kiba and the boy, the man's voice slowed, ultimately dying down for a second before looking at Kiba with curiosity. "Gaara? Who is this?"

The little boy shrugged, but pulled Kiba forward so they both stood before the sandy haired man. "He got hurt protecting me. Please heal him."

The man looked down at Kiba with wide eyes, then down at the young boy, then back Kiba, and finally sighed. "Alright. Gaara, why don't you go and get him some water while I look over him?"

With wide eyes, the red head looked at Kiba, uncertainty shining clear in them. Kiba noticed this and gave him a soft smile, then nodded at him. "Some water would be nice."

Suddenly the boy's face lit up and he nodded in determination, then he let go of Kiba's hand and ran off in the direction the man had run in from.

He seemed really eager and determined for some reason. Kiba didn't know why. But Akamaru jumped off his shoulder without a single word and followed after the boy, so he guessed that there was no danger to be had in this place.

"Now, if you'd let me see the damage."

Kiba's attention returned to the man in front of him once heard him speak, then felt a light touch on his shoulder. He looked up at the man, then pointed at his mouth, "There was some blood there. But it's mostly gone."

"Would you mind if I checked?" The man asked softly, to which Kiba shrugged.

Soon he found soft fingers barely touching his face, making sure there were no lasting effects of what had happened. Then the man had told Kiba to open his mouth to inspect it, and nodded slightly.

"It's a superficial wound. There's no need for bandages or anything of the like." Yashamaru informed him, then smiled at Kiba. "So, you got this protecting Gaara?"

In the distance, the boy heard the opening of a refrigerator, then Akamaru's barking. But he focused on the man in front of him once more. "Yeah. Some jerks were going to attack him or something. I stopped them before they could get too far, though."

There was a beat of silence in which neither male said anything. Then Gaara came running in with a happy Akamaru jumping at his heels, a cup of water in his hands.

"I got the water, Uncle Yashamaru!" He announced giddily, handing the water over to the tattooed taller boy. "And I gave some to your puppy too. I hope it was okay."

Kiba smiled and grabbed the cup, taking a sip from it. "Of course it's great! We're not used to this much heat and I was worried Akamaru would be thirsty. Thank you."

Gaara was beaming now. Positively beaming. And it made Kiba feel nice.

He wondered why that was for a moment. Then he noticed that, for the first time since he had accepted Zabuza's proposition, he was around someone his age. Throughout his whole time with the old man, he'd been surrounded by older people. But now there was someone close to him in age. And it was nice to not feel like he was completely alone. Without counting Akamaru, though. He was never alone when Akamaru was around.

"Your friend is all healed up, Gaara." Yashamaru told the boy with a smile and a pat to his head. "Have you thanked him for what he did?"

"F-Friend?" The boy's smile dropped and his eyes widened, a look of confusion overtaking his features. "You're my friend?" He turned to Kiba with this, only to find that he was gulping down the water like a dehydrated man.

In all honesty, he had not noticed how thirsty he had been until he had taken that first, restrained sip of water.

Taking a second to down the drink, Kiba smiled and nodded. "Well, I saved you, you gave me water. That seems like things friends would do, right?"

The kid moved faster than Kiba thought possible.

One second the kid had stood in front of him with wide eyes and the next he had his arms wrapped around Kiba's shoulders, hugging him tightly with a happy shout of "Friends!"

The ex-Inuzuka was taken aback by the sudden action, but soon regained his composure and patted him softly on the back.

"Yeah. Friends."

He... He hadn't had friends in a long time.

It felt kind of nice...

"So, Gaara, what's your friend's name?"

The boy didn't let go of Kiba as he turned his neck to look at his uncle, eyebrows knitting. "I... I don't know..."

"Kiba." The taller boy offered, patting Gaara's back once more. "My name's Kiba, Gaara. That's Akamaru." He pointed at the pup, who barked in greeting. "And it's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too!" The boy smiled broadly, squeezing him once more, strong enough to take Kiba's breath away. "My name's Gaara!"

Just how was this kid so strong?!

Luckily for Kiba, Yashamaru grabbed Gaara's attention before he could accidentally suffocate and/or crush the boy. "Hey, Gaara, why don't we make some thank you cookies for Kiba? It seems like the least we could do after he helped you."

The boy agreed immediately without any problem, then dragged Kiba over to the kitchen, excited to have him help make the cookies.

~/~

After they had finished making their cookies, Yashamaru led the kids over to a very comfortable couch and left them because he was to go to some meeting. Kiba munched happily on some cookies, Akamaru nicked a few crumbs from him, and Gaara just enjoyed being with his new friend.

They spent some time in silence. But, soon enough, Kiba grew tired of it. So he spoke up.

"So, why did those kids want to beat you up?" He asked, looking at Gaara.

The young boy looked down at his hands with a sad look on his face, "I... I don't know." He admitted, "Nobody ever wants to play with me. They all tell me I'm a m-monster... And I don't know why."

A monster?

Kiba didn't like the sound of that at all.

Sitting up, Kiba asked, "Does your family do anything about that?"

Back he had still been part of his clan, he had noticed that they didn't allow anyone to bully any of the members. If one member was insulted, they all were. And they would not stand for that kind of insult.

With a shake of his head, the boy admitted, "My brother and sister don't like me either... I don't really see my father often... Uncle Yashamaru cleans up my injuries most of the times, though."

Kiba frowned deeply upon hearing this, not liking the way the boy's tone had become so saddened.

"Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't even be here."

This made something in Kiba's brain click. And he asked, "Who's to say you have to stay?"

Gaara looked at him with confusion swimming in his eyes, but Kiba could only smirk back at him.

* * *

There was only one thing Zabuza knew he should not do in Suna. And that was get too close to the Kazekage's domain. There was a rumor running around about a bloodthirsty child with red hair and a red tattoo on his face that killed anyone that got too close to him with savagery equivalent to all of the Swordsmen of the Mist. And even though Zabuza didn't give too much weight to rumors, he felt like it wouldn't be a bad idea to just avoid the Kazekage altogether.

There was no reason to mess with the man, after all.

All he had to do was get in, kill a guy, cash in on his head, then leave Suna and never come back to this damned desert.

If he didn't go anywhere near any red headed child with tattoos, then he'd have no reason to worry about rumors being true or not.

The best way to avoid any kind of complications was to just avoid it. Simple as that.

Imagine his surprise and exasperation when Kiba came back to him with a red headed kid in tow, a red tattoo clear on the side of his forehead.

"Old man, I made a friend!" The boy shouted as he pointed at the kid, "His name's Gaara and he's coming with us!"

The boy... Zabuza had to actively remind himself that he kept him around for his natural talents in tracking and hunting. That, even with the grief brought to him by Itachi and Kisame because of him, it would all be worth it in the long run when he had a perfect killing machine.

"Kiba, that would be kidnapping." Zabuza sighed with a shake of his head, then looked over the boy.

He had dark rims around his eyes and a tattoo... But, aside from that, there was nothing odd about him. He looked like any other snot nosed brat with too much hope in his life.

"No, it wouldn't. He'd just be running away with us."

From the way the kid nodded, Zabuza could tell that they had already discussed all of this in advance.

It had been a mistake to let Kiba roam free. First time he'd allowed it, he'd found him stealing food. The second time had wound up with Akamaru. Now he had brought up another stray. But there was no way Zabuza could let him bring this one along.

"Kiba..."

"Old man..."

"It's no big deal. Uncle Yashamaru is currently in a meeting with father. That means we have at least two more hours before anyone finds out I ran away." The kid with the big eyes informed.

"Kid, you can't come with us." Zabuza shook his head, "Kiba, return him."

"No! I want a friend!"

"Akamaru's your friend."

The dog barked now. And that made Zabuza notice that he had hidden himself inside of the _kid's_ clothes, not Kiba's. Which meant that Akamaru also wanted the kid to come along.

"He's not coming."

"He is."

"I would like to come."

... Damn...

Why did he keep the kid around? Was it even _really_ worth it?

With a sigh, Zabuza tried to remind himself that it _was_ worth it.

 **So, what do you think? Should Zabuza adopt little Gaara as well? Or should he leave him behind in the Sand?**

 **Tell me what you think!**


	7. Rather Smooth Kidnapping

When Zabuza said no, he _meant it_.

... So... If that was how he was supposed to work... Why the _hell_ was he running across the desert with one boy beneath each arm, a pup perched over the front of his poncho?!

"Halt! Return the Kazekage's son!"

Oh, right, and he also wound up having a group of no less than twelve Jonin level enemies chasing after him.

"Run, old man! You can beat them!" Kiba shouted with a broad smile, although his voice was somewhat jumbled because of the fast pace Zabuza had set.

"I believe in you, Mr. Old Man!"

And, as if hearing the energetic cheers from both boys, Akamaru added his own input with a happy bark of encouragement.

A kunai sailed at him and forced the man to jump over it, but he continued running without faltering.

This chase had been going on for at least ten minutes and there had been nothing to gain. He could throw the red headed kid back at the ninja chasing him, distracting them for long enough to escape without a trace. But that would make Kiba get all pissy and would that really be worth it?

He really wished that, by ignoring the shinobi chasing him, they would disappear.

Apparently, though, the phrase 'Ignore it and it will go away.' did _not_ apply when being chased by a dozen shinobi.

Now that he thought about it, it also didn't apply to Kiba, Akamaru, most of his troubles, and pesky feelings that made him feel somewhat attached to the young boy he had picked up in the Hidden Leaf quite some time ago.

With a soft sigh, the man decided that there was no avoiding it. He would have to kill these men.

... Wait, this could actually work to his advantage. If he traumatized both boys, they would be more likely to listen to him and not try to fight him!

"Okay, no more running." The man announced, taking two more steps before he dug his feet into the sand and turned around. "I'm taking the kid!" He announced to the shinobi, who stopped a few feet away from him. "Kiba, kid, Akamaru, stay here."

He set both boys down with a soft growl, then took a chance to look at the kid for a second.

The red headed kid looked at him with wide eyes, but Zabuza didn't stop and think too much on what he may want to say. Instead the man just turned around, grabbing his large sword from his back with a glare at the men and women before him.

"If you stop now, we will not have to kill you." The one at the very front of the group conceded, voice deep and dangerous. He was somewhat odd looking, with the left side of his face covered by sheet, and the rest of his head covered by a kind of turban. He also had two red markings on the visible side of his face. "But if you resist, we will not be held accountable for our actions. You _did_ kidnap our Lord Kazekage's youngest son. That is grounds for execution without needing any other charges."

Setting his sword in front of him, the man glared at the shinobi in front of him. Then he looked down at Kiba. The boy was glaring dangerously over at the shinobi as well, hands balled up into fists. Then he looked at the young boy he was now being blamed of kidnapping (which he technically was) and noticed how trustingly he was looking back at him.

With a roll of his eyes and a deep set scowl, the man grabbed Akamaru from the front of his poncho, placed him on Kiba's head, and stepped forward.

"Big words." He called out, "Why don't you show me just how serious you are about backing them up?"

The man at the front sneered at Zabuza's words, then dropped into a fighting stance. "You cannot take the boy!"

Zabuza was prepared to run forward and slaughter these Suna shinobi. It would be a good learning experience for both boys, for they'd see just how truly dangerous he could be. Kiba may just finally start fearing him and understanding that life was not a game.

But right when he was about to step forward to attack, he noticed something odd about the sand around the shinobi.

At first, it was a subtle change that could be attributed to the rough winds of the desert. But when it began to swirl around the men and women, Zabuza believed that his eyes were playing tricks on him. It began to whip around like a contained tornado around the shinobi, causing them all to look around them in astonishment. Then, as if sudden realization hit them, they looked forward at Zabuza, eyes wide and terrifying.

But... Why? He wasn't doing this...

With slight confusion, the man looked at the shinobi. The sand was becoming more and more tangible around them, beginning to obscure them. But they didn't move. Instead, they just looked forward at him with terror in his... Wait a minute... They weren't looking at _him_.

Following their line of sight, Zabuza turned his head slightly to see what they were so scared of. And he found that they were scared of the young boy he was in the middle of kidnapping, who had his arms outstretched and eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Uh... Gaara... Are you doing that?" Kiba questioned from beside Zabuza, pointing at the sand beginning to completely surround the shinobi.

The young boy turned to look at him with a small smile and a nod. He seemed so bashful with that smile, but Zabuza could not understand why.

Could... Could he possibly be the killing machine he had heard the rumors say he was?

He could use this.

With a flare of his hands, the sand attached itself to the men and women, encasing them until the only thing that could be seen of them was their heads. Then, with a smile up at Zabuza, he said, "That should hold for a few hours. We can go now, Mr. Old Man."

He... Could not believe what he had just seen and heard. But Zabuza was no idiot. This kid had a gift with the sand. He could use this in the future if he was able to train him correctly. Just like he would be able to use Kiba as a perfect tracker and hunter once he was completely able to tame the wild boy.

"Alright then." Zabuza muttered, turning around to push both boys forward. "Get to walking then. We've got quite a ways to go."

Both boys immediately became excited at the man's words, and the ex-Inuzuka ran around Zabuza to grab Gaara by the shoulders and push him forward.

"Let's go, Gaara! Ah! Akamaru, we have a new friend! And we're actually going to take him with us!"

Akamaru jumped out of the boy's shirt and began to run around both kids, barking animatedly as he did so.

They all began to walk away from the group of shinobi that the boy had singlehandedly incapacitated, but not before Zabuza took one final look at the men and women that had chased after them. The one at the front, the one that had spoken and had the red marks on his face, was glaring at them hatefully.

Zabuza couldn't help the cocky expression that came onto his face because of that glare.

He had just managed to use the Kazekage's own son against them. And there was nothing Suna could do.

He knew that this could count as a terrorist attack against Suna. But... Really, what was Suna to do? They were a weak village with not enough shinobi to send on the wild goose chase that would be needed to get the kid back.

Oh, he felt powerful.

Now all he would have to do was actually instill discipline and respect into both boys.

With this thought, he began to walk forward. Only to get bumped into by Kiba, who looked up at him with a broad smile.

"Let's go to Mist now!"

Sighing softly, Zabuza conceded that a task such as forcing discipline into this one would not be as easy as he wished it would be.

"To Mist, Mr. Old Man?"

Wait, what was the other boy doing? Why was he throwing himself at Zabuza just like Kiba had? Dammit! Why were both these idiots so trusting!?

 **Please review.**


	8. Of Flying Lessons and Mad Bombers

They didn't go to Mist next. Zabuza refused to give in to Kiba's wishes so quickly after having just stolen a kid from Suna simply because the boy wanted to have a friend around.

He would never admit to it, but Kiba was sure of it. The man had too much pride to ever admit to blatantly ignoring Kiba's pleas simply because he'd already given in once.

But, really, Kiba didn't mind.

Having Gaara around was fun. Especially with how many different things they could do with his sand powers.

"Are you ready, Gaara?"

"Ready, Kiba! Are you ready Akamaru?"

The dog barked from his spot inside of Kiba's jacket, which made the youngest human smile among them smile broadly and nod. "Okay, you can go down now!"

"Kiba, Gaara! What in the holy hell are you two doing?!"

"Having fun, old man!" Kiba answered with a broad smile, then prepared himself once more.

They had gone to the Land of Fire after crossing the desert. Kiba knew this because he recognized this part of the forest. They had slept here for a while before they had managed to trek over to Suna. And because Zabuza had decided to go through with yet another disappearing act like the ones Kiba had grown accustomed to, both boys had decided to have some fun.

So Gaara had somehow managed to make sand out of the dirt beneath them. Then, per Kiba's insistence, had created a _really tall and long_ slide so he and Akamaru could slide down. And by tall, Kiba had meant tall. They were able to see over the trees canopies from the height they were in. And he loved it. Gaara and Zabuza down on the forest floor looked tiny from up there.

Because sand was somewhat chaffy, they had taken one of the few metal plates they had, one that Zabuza tended to use when they made a fire on cold nights to 'cook' their food. It wasn't really cooking. He just laid them down on the plate, allowed the fire to make them less raw, then handed the food over to Kiba and Akamaru to eat.

"Okay! Here I go, Gaara!" Kiba had zero fear when it came to awesome things.

This was one awesome thing, though, that he maybe should have thought a bit more on before actually going through with it.

But, the ex-Inuzuka knew that throwing himself down this home-made, much too big slide would piss Zabuza off. So, being the ever intelligent little kid he was, he decided to go through with jumping and seeing how awesome it would be to fly.

"Don't you dare jump, Kiba! I'll kill you!"

But Kiba didn't listen to the man. Instead he position the metal plate on his butt, smiled broadly at Gaara, and jumped down the sand slide with whoops and giggles of pure glee.

At first, everything was amazing. The wind whipped at his face amazingly, Akamaru and him both cheering and whooping in pure delight. But a bit of their glee ended when they heard Zabuza shouting at Gaara to stop this madness.

"Don't let the old man get to you!" Kiba shouted through the whipping winds, even though it was somewhat difficult. "He's trying to suck the fun out of everything!"

It was fun to slide down from the height! The world had been extremely far away. But now it came up to him extremely fast, giving Kiba a sensation of full on flying. And he knew that it would not end until after they had reached the end of the slide. For everything went his way, we would indeed end up flying.

"Dammit, Gaara, don't listen to that idiot! I'm gonna stop this."

"Don't let him, Gaara!"

Zabuza made to jump on Kiba as he slid down. But Gaara moved fast and encased the man's legs with sand, effectively stopping him from stopping Kiba's fun.

"You little- He's in danger, Gaara!" Zabuza tried, but Gaara shook his head.

"Kiba knows what he's doing, Mr. Old Man."

"He's a kid!"

"But he knows."

The Mist nin growled dangerously, but Kiba whooped in delight as he came closer to the curved end of the slide.

"How do you know he knows?"

"Because he's smart."

"Far from it! Gaara, let me go!"

"No."

"Good job, Gaara!" Kiba congratulated as he and Akamaru neared the end, then he braced himself for what was to come.

He had always wanted to know what it was like to fly. And he'd never really had the chance to try and do so. Not back in Konoha and not with Zabuza. But with Gaara's sand slide, they had been able to create enough speed and enough height for him to actually try and fly. And Akamaru was along for the ride.

"Here we go!"

Suddenly, he felt weightless. There was nothing but up and up and up. And it was amazing. He and Akamaru were sent soaring over the trees. He lost his grip on the metal plate upon leaving the slide, but he couldn't think on that. The only thing the ex-Inuzuka could truly think of was how beautiful the world looked from up here. How peaceful it was.

It was amazing.

Too bad he had to be reminded of the harsh rules of gravity after only a few seconds of appreciating the view. What came up, must go down. And he had gone up... All that was left to do was plummet.

Even though he had been feeling inner peace and calm as he had gone up, when the world started to get closer, a sense of pure panic replaced.

"What am I going to die?" He questioned to himself, eyes wide and arms flailing. "I'm not a bird!"

In retrospect... He should have remembered that what went up plummeted down.

"Gaara! Let go of me! He's going to die!"

"No. Kiba has this under control. I believe in him."

"He's going to die, you idiot!"

Zabuza... He sounded legitimately worried.

Maybe the old man did care...

It was a shame Kiba thought of this seconds away from dying.

But, what was there left to do? He was much too far from Zabuza or Gaara to be saved. And he couldn't stop his own descent, he didn't have enough knowledge of anything ninja related to stop a crash landing that was going so fast.

"Well, Akamaru..." He sighed, hugging the pup tightly to his chest. "It was a good ride. I'm glad it's you I'll be dying with."

With a whimper of fear, the dog nuzzled his head against Kiba's neck. But they didn't struggle. They accepted their deaths.

Closing his eyes, Kiba prepared himself for impact and darkness.

But it never came.

Instead of a harsh landing that left him dead, the boy suddenly found himself crashing against something that was definitely _not_ the forest floor. Then he heard a sigh of relief, followed by a soft laugh.

"Damn, kid! It's not every day I see flying boys!"

The person wasn't anyone Kiba had ever met. And when he looked up to see who it was that had saved him, Kiba found that he was most definitely still flying. The wind was still passing through his hair and bit softly at his face. But it wasn't as fast before. It was going by much slower.

The man wore standard shinobi clothes, dark khaki pants and a green kimono jacket with white trimmings and a belt. He had long blonde hair that fell to his shoulders in a slick ponytail. And his face was smiling broadly, light blue eyes shining with what seemed like amusement.

"Am I... Am I dead?"

The man shook his head, then crouched down in front of Kiba, poking him in the head.

"Not really. I don't think so. You're breathing and speaking. But, with an idea as stupid as whichever you came up with that wound up with you flying, I'm surprised you aren't. You're really lucky I happened to be around to save you."

"Thank you." Kiba gulped as a cold sweat ran through him, then he looked down at just what it was that had saved him.

A giant bird. One that looked a lot like those dolls his sister used to have before she had been killed.

"So, where should I drop you off?" The man asked nicely enough, turning to scan the forest below.

Apparently, to him it wasn't too odd to be flying a giant bird. But to Kiba, it was amazing.

"So beautiful..." The boy breathed out, some of the fear ebbing away from his body as they flew peacefully through the air.

The man hummed and nodded in agreement. "Then you're not a _complete_ idiot."

As they flew, Kiba spotted Gaara's giant ladder. So he pointed at it, telling the man that he could drop him off over there. The blonde nodded and took them there, then the bird began to descend.

When they reached the ground below, Zabuza was still struggling to free himself from Gaara's sand. But Gaara insisted that Kiba knew what he had been doing and so he would wait until the other boy told him to release Zabuza. But, until then, he would hold him there.

"So this is what sent you flying..." The man noted with amazement in his voice. "Pretty interesting..."

Gaara's face light up when he saw Kiba, although Zabuza continued to struggle with his eyes closed.

"I told you he knew what he was doing, Mr. Old Man!"

"Kiba's dead, you fucking reta..." Zabuza's insult, though, teetered off when he opened his eyes to glare at Gaara, only to see Kiba walking towards him with the man right beside him. "Gaara, free me right now."

"Why, Mr. Old Man?"

"Because there's a prime bounty target right there and I'm going to need new supplies to keep you and Kiba out of your stupidity."

The man's answer surprised Kiba. And he glared at him, shaking his head.

"He saved me! How could you try and kill him after he was so nice?"

"Business is business. No hard feelings." The man shrugged, then looked over at the man. "No hard feelings right?"

"None at all. But if you fight me, I'll let you know that you won't be cashing in on anything. But I may be cashing in on your life."

Kiba couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You two are stupid." He remarked bluntly, shaking his head. "Come on Gaara. Let's go do something else that will get us in trouble with the old man."

"Okay!"

"Kiba!"

"You're raising me to be a danger to myself!" The boy defended himself. "If you taught me to be smart, I wouldn't be such a danger to myself!"

"Kid has a point..." The blonde muttered, then patted Kiba's head. "Would you like to make some art?"

Kiba thought about this for a second... Then he decided that one near death experience should have been enough for one day. "Okay."

So the man sat himself down, motioned for Gaara to join them, and began to teach them how to mold clay.

After stopping them from doing anything stupid, Zabuza couldn't kill him. It just wasn't right to kill the man that had stopped both of his wards from killing themselves.

 **Please review.**


	9. Goodbye and a Fleeting Hello to a Perv

Apparently, the blonde man's name was Deidara. And Kiba and Gaara took a shine to him quickly enough after he had saved the run away Inuzuka.

But after a few days of traveling together, they had to leave the man behind. Which had been fine in Zabuza's mind because he had gotten kind of tired of having to put up with all _four_ of them ganging up on him, seeing how Akamaru joined in on making fun of him and his supposed incompetence when it came to taking care of his charges.

Kiba had wanted to keep Deidara around because it was fun to have arts and crafts on the road. Gaara liked having him around because Kiba liked having him around. Akamaru liked the toys the blonde would create. But Zabuza didn't like the fact that it seemed like his kid- _minions_ were drifting away from him and closer to the blonde bomber with the interesting kekkai genkkai.

"You promise you'll try and find us whenever you can, Mr. Deidara?"

"Yeah! You can't leave us all alone with this evil guy for too long!"

Kiba knew that Zabuza was glaring at him. But he was too busy hugging the blonde man to care about that. And Gaara was busy hugging him from the other side, which meant that the possible glare being sent his way was also being ignored.

"Oh, kids. I have to go on my way." Deidara smiled softly at the kids hugging him tightly, "But don't worry about it. We'll meet each other again. I promise you that."

They didn't want the blonde man to leave. But he seemed like he truly needed to go. So both boys, with heavy frowns, decided to hug him tighter and not let him go.

"Don't leave us!"

Zabuza sighed at the twin shouts, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes at the boys' theatrics.

"Leave him alone, you runts. You knew he was bound to leave." The man growled, crossing his arms over his chest with a clear lack of amusement on his face. "Now let go of him before I pull you off. He's got things to do and places to be."

"Zabuza's right, kids." The man patted both kid's heads with a soft smile on his face, "I have to get going."

"But I don't want you to go!" Kiba shouted out, "The mean old man doesn't care about us like you do!"

"I don't want you to go, Mr. Deidara!" Gaara whimpered afterwards, "Mr. Old Man has been nice with you around!"

Zabuza growled softly at what was being said by the kids. Especially by Gaara. He hadn't been nicer. He had merely tolerated them more to ensure them staying with him rather than trying to run away with Deidara. And, yeah, he had promised them to begin training them, but that was merely because he needed to begin doing so to ensure having the perfect killing machines before they grew too old to be indoctrinated.

It wasn't because he cared or anything.

"Believe it or not, boys, Zabuza cares for you." Deidara knelt down so he was grasping both kids by their shoulders, smiling at Kiba before leveling Gaara with an even brighter one. "Somewhere, deep down in that cold, barely beating heart, there is love for you two."

Both boys stopped shouting and huffing at this. They were much too caught off guard with what was being said to continue crying. But Zabuza only glared at the blonde man, feeling both insulted and somewhat embarrassed at the same time.

"Whatever. Get going before I decide that the target on your head is worth the trouble."

The blue eyed male smiled broadly at Zabuza, then ruffled both boys' heads, and stood up. Then, after he had shouldered his pack and given one final wave, he began to walk down a path they would not be following him on. They were about three days worth of travel to the Land of the Mist. But Deidara wanted to continue in Fire Country. So they were to separate.

"I'm going to miss him..."

"Me too..."

And a soft bark accompanied both boys' sentiments.

* * *

Traveling with two glum boys and one depressed pup was _not_ fun.

Zabuza had grown accustomed to Kiba's and Akamaru's hyperactive antics. And he had even begun to grow used to the idea of the polite and much too nice Gaara following along with their crazed plans simply because he deemed them smart enough to follow.

Even though he'd never admit it, he'd even begun to kind of enjoy seeing them making up all kinds of plans to entertain themselves.

But now, they weren't plotting. They merely sulked about no longer having the artistic blonde around them, lamenting the fact that they weren't going to be able to enjoy the creative explosions the man was able to create with his clay.

Like, right now, Zabuza would have thought the kids would have chosen to plot against him. He had set up a camp in the middle of the forest as the sun descended, like he would have done before. Usually, this would have ended up with the kids and dog consulting one another to try and get some kind of revenge on him for leaving him alone. But Zabuza knew that when he came back with the hot food he had bought (This was the first time he did this. He _never_ bought the kids anything. But seeing how they had been so sullen lately, he guessed that it wouldn't have hurt to try and give them some commodity for once.)

He should have known that having someone like Deidara around them wouldn't have helped the kids. He was much too nice and expressive with how much he cared to be good for the kids. They were used to _him_. Which meant they were used to someone being detached and cold. But kids were sponges for affection, and Deidara was the kind that didn't stop himself from offering it. Now that he had left, he had cut off their supply of affection. Which meant they were left feeling alone.

That's it. He wasn't letting anyone else get close to the kids unless they were like him: hateful of intimacy. If anyone was much too happy or touchy-feely, Zabuza would get rid of them as quickly as possible to stop them from contaminating his perfect weapons.

Once he neared the campsite he had set up, Zabuza heard something that made him immediately grow suspicious.

Kiba was laughing raucously. Akamaru was barking in happiness. Gaara was giggling in that way that would seem adorable to anyone but Zabuza. And there was an unfamiliar, loud sort of laughter, accompanying their own.

These kids were magnets for unwanted visitors, it seemed.

"So there I stood, with a bra on my head, in only my underwear, and a frying pan heading straight to my head!"

Zabuza's mood went from being somewhat worried to being extremely irritated at what he heard. He didn't know what was going on or who the person the kids had found must have been. He just knew that what he had heard did _not_ amuse him and was certainly not a story they should be listening to.

Softly, he placed the bag of food he had been carrying on the floor and suppressed his chakra to its lowest level. The man's chakra signature was odd. It was clearly strong, but extremely relaxed. He hadn't seemed to have felt Zabuza near. And this meant that the ex-Mist Nin would use this to his advantage.

Quietly he crept towards the small encampment he had set up. And behind the foliage in which he was hiding, he saw a head of long and thick white hair shifting slightly as the shoulders attached to it shook in laughter. Shinobi, without a doubt. But Zabuza didn't care. The man was sitting in between both Gaara and Kiba and this was beyond wrong.

From the way they were laughing, Zabuza could tell that they wouldn't appreciate him killing the man. But if he were to just get rid of him, with minimal bodily harm... They would just be somewhat annoyed. And he could work with that.

"I'll tell you, kids, whenever around women, make sure they don't see that you're looking directly at their chests. It's an insult of some kind."

Eyes narrowing further as he calculated his next move, Zabuza shifted so he was in the best spot to attack. Kiba and Gaara didn't even seem to notice him from the way they kept their attention on the man.

"Women are weird!" Kiba nodded to himself with a cross of his arms over his chest, all the while Gaara blinked at him and the man.

"But... Not all women are so violent..."

"That may be true, Raccoon Eyes, but all women are insane. And that's the common denominator between them."

"Denominator?"

"You kids don't seem to be old enough to know that kind of math... Do you?"

"I can divide and multiply."

"I only know how to add double digits."

For a second, Zabuza paused in his analyzing to allow that to sink in. Gaara, at least a year younger than Kiba, already knew how to divide and multiply. While the tattooed boy only knew how to add double digits... He would have to fix this.

But first...

"Huh. Well, don't worry kids. It's just an expre-Ah!"

Zabuza had moved quickly, quietly. And once he was right behind the white haired man clad in red, the ex-Mist Nin delivered a powerful kick right to his back, sending him flying upwards and far away from his camp.

Kiba and Gaara were busy blinking in surprise at him as the man straightened up. Zabuza merely glared down at both of them as he placed his hands on his hips.

"We're going to need to have a serious talk about talking to strangers."

But the threat that was clear in his voice was ignored. Instead, the kids jumped up with wide eyes and began to shout about wanting to learn how to move as quickly and quietly as him and how to attack as powerfully as he had.

"That was so cool, old man! You've got to teach us how to do that!"

"Please, Mr. Old Man!"

Even Akamaru joined in on the excitement.

 **Please review.**


	10. The Girly Looking Boy

For some reason that was beyond him, the mean old man was making him practice addition and subtraction.

"And how much is one hundred and ten plus ninety?"

Kiba glared at the man and huffed loudly as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't like math!"

The evil old man looked back at him with an unimpressed sigh, then shook his head softly. "Kiba, you need to know how to do this. It's essential for being a ninja."

The young boy shook his own head haughtily, proclaiming, "I don't need no math 'cause I'm going to be the awesomest ninja around!"

Zabuza's face lost all emotions and he deadpanned, "You really are a work of art."

"I know I am. And I'm beautiful just the way I am and ain't no way no one's going to tell me nothing about that!"

Kiba stuck his tongue out as Zabuza shook his head softly, then they both turned to Gaara when the young made his presence known.

"Where are we supposed to be going, Mr. Old Man? I don't like all the water..."

The question was a good one. And Kiba wanted to know the answer to it as well. So, ignoring the scroll before him that asked him to solve the math problem, he looked at Zabuza expectantly. And Akamaru plopped down beside him after having crawled out of his hiding place (having been smart enough to flee when Zabuza had first appeared) to look at the man as well.

A few days had passed since they had seen the old man be awesome. And Kiba couldn't help but wish to finally begin to learn how to do more than just throw kunai and carry a sword properly. He wanted to learn how to fight like the old man. But the jerk insisted that he needed to learn how to use math before he was taught anything else, which, really, was incredibly stupid.

The old man had told them they were going to Kirigakure. But why they were going there was beyond them.

"I've already explained, kid. We're going to the Hidden Mist Village." Zabuza muttered as he passed a hand through his hair, turning to look at Gaara with a mixture of exasperation and annoyance shining on his face.

"But... _Why_? It's raining so much..."

"Because I said so."

Kiba frowned at the man, "You're being mean."

"You can't properly add. Whatever you want to tell me, you can once you've figured out the problem."

"No! Quick, Gaara, math for me!"

The red head was about to help his friend when the mean old man grabbed him by the arm, hauled him up, and threw him over his shoulder. "Akamaru, stay with Kiba and make sure he figures the problem out. I'm going to take Gaara into town to buy him a rain coat."

"You're so mean!"

"Don't worry, Kiba! I will help you as soon as Mr. Old Man buys me a new coat!"

* * *

Mist was always raining.

He didn't like it.

Neither did Akamaru or Gaara.

If anything, it seemed like the only person that didn't mind all the rain was the old man himself.

"How much longer are we going to be stuck here?"

Zabuza didn't even bother to answer him. He just continued walking, gaze focused on something in front of them.

"Hey, Kiba... Don't you think that Mr. Old Man has been acting somewhat oddly recently?"

The ex-Inuzuka looked at Haku with confusion and asked, "What do you mean, Gaara? He's grumpy and mean. There's nothing odd there."

Gaara looked at the old man's back then at Kiba, frowning softly. But Kiba shrugged softly and ran so he was walking in front of Zabuza, then noticed they were going to cross a bridge.

He didn't really like bridges. He didn't trust them. It had been on a bridge that...

Shaking his head to forget those thoughts, Kiba noticed that there was someone sitting at the very center of the bridge. It looked to be a girl because of her long black hair, but maybe it was a dude with too long hair... It was a child, though. That much he was sure of.

"Hey, old man, there's a kid on the bridge."

Zabuza looked down at him as soon as he spoke up, then towards the child, then sighed heavily.

"What? You want a new friend?"

Kiba blinked up at him, unsure as to why Zabuza suddenly sounded so tired, and shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt to have a new friend. You know how much we enjoy having friends around."

"Will you get serious about your math problems?"

The frown Kiba gave Zabuza was both angered and kind of hurt. But then he looked towards the child by the bridge and noticed that he could heart soft sobs coming from them.

"Uh..." He looked at the child as his heart began to tell him to be a good person for once, then nodded. "Yeah. I will. And Akamaru won't steal your meat when you leave it alone anymore."

"He takes it even when I'm eating it."

"No promises there."

The man scoffed at Kiba's answer, but the boy couldn't really find the usual anger or venom he would have when it came to him growing annoyed with him, Gaara, and Akamaru. He just sounded extremely tired.

"Fine." The man grunted, then squared his shoulders and began to walk towards the bridge. "Hey, kid! Got any family? If not, you can join me and these kids."

* * *

The new kid's name was Haku. And Kiba had a sneaking suspicion that Zabuza actually liked having him around.

"Time for math practice."

"You'll never catch me alive, old man!"

"Kiba, I'll help you! Bye, Mr. Old Man!"

"What is so bad about learning?"

Before Kiba could properly run off, Zabuza's hand wrapped around the collar of his shirt and pulled him back towards the table he had tried to flee. Then he set _The_ Notebook in front of him, along with a pencil and an eraser so he could get to work. Then he did the same with Gaara and Haku, who began to work without needing to be told much because they were good kids, even though Gaara did look at him in slight confusion before he worked.

He didn't like having Haku with them. The girly looking boy was kind, respectful, and generous. He never insulted the old man, nor called him anything but his name.

The long haired jerk made him and Gaara seem like delinquents.

Kiba now fully regretted having allowed his heart to get the better of him when they had still been in Mist.

A few minutes of complete silence passed, only filled with the soft scratching of pencil scraping against paper. Kiba glared at the problems set before him, the numbers on the page swimming in a way that made his eyes strain and head hurt. He didn't understand why he needed to do any of this. He was going to be a ninja! Not some stupid idiot that would work with numbers his whole life.

Akamaru barked at him and told him what the answers to the problems were, all the while trying to explain why that was, but Kiba didn't really care. He just pouted as he handed in his notebook, then asked Gaara if he wanted to run off and find something to destroy.

"But why would you destroy something? Would it not be more productive to cook a meal?" Haku interrupted, looking at them quizzically. "Or sew up the tear in your pants?"

The question made both boys looked down at the tears in their respective pants, and Kiba shrugged. "They're just going to break again."

"Haku's got a point, kid. Besides, you all passed your work." Zabuza appeared before all of them with three sticks in his hands, no longer having the notebooks with him. "Wouldn't you much rather learn some basics to using the sword?"

"Finally!" Both he and Gaara cheered, all the while Haku nodded softly.

Kiba didn't like this new kid. But as long as Akamaru kept helping him out and Zabuza actually taught them a few things that came to do with using swords in battle, he would be happy.

 **So, not one of my greatest chapters... But it's something! Please review.**


	11. Puppets, Threats, and Math Woes

Gaara's old family had never been too nice. His brother and sister were people he'd never actually been able to spend time with because they'd never been allowed to be together. Uncle Yashamaru had said that it was because his older siblings had to focus on their schooling so they could become proper ninja. But Gaara had never understood just why it was that they had lived in completely different homes…

His new family was not the usual kind of nice Gaara had been told about by his Uncle. But that didn't mean Gaara didn't love them.

"Quick, Gaara! The old man can't catch us!"

"Kiba, get back here and finish your math problems!"

Gaara smiled as soon as he saw the blur that was his best friend, only to have a much bigger shadow follow after him.

Mr. Old Man didn't really like it whenever Kiba tried to run away from his lessons. He wanted Kiba to learn so he could have the proper knowledge to survive later on in life.

Kiba didn't like learning math. He liked learning about weapons, fighting, and how to be a ninja. But _math_ was something he had always hated. And no matter how many times Mr. Old Man sat him down and growled at him to finish his work _or else_ , Kiba never truly took a shine to completing his work.

Beside him, Gaara could hear his newest friend sighing.

Haku was quiet, much quieter than anybody Gaara had ever met before. But he was respectful and kind; he'd helped Gaara make lunch one day when Kiba had pissed Mr. Old Man so much that he had sworn he would cook for none of them.

"Why does he insist on running away?"

Gaara smiled over at him, "Because he's Kiba. He's already smart enough."

The boy with the long hair quirked a thin eyebrow, then asked, "But how can he be smart when he doesn't know how to do math?"

"He just is." Gaara shrugged, then pointed at the happily laughing boy as he jumped from tree branch to tree branch, "See? He's making Mr. Old Man chase after him and is making him really work to catch him. He _has_ to be smart to give him trouble; Mr. Old Man is really smart too."

Just as he said this, Kiba stopped running, stuck his tongue out at his pursuer, and Akamaru yipped from the collar of his shirt. Gaara could tell that the puppy was taunting the man as well.

"You little brat!"

Right when Mr. Old Man was about to put his hands on him, though, Kiba dropped from the tall branch and continued running on the floor.

Mr. Old Man screamed in frustration but threw himself at the ground and continued after the boy.

"Kiba is _really_ smart."

~/~

When Zabuza finally managed to catch Kiba, he tied him down onto his chair, roughly slammed the notebook filled with math problems in front of the brat, and held onto the struggling Akamaru to make sure the pup couldn't free his master.

This was the _second time_ Akamaru helped free Kiba after Zabuza had tied him up. And, while it was commendable to see such a tight partnership, Zabuza didn't think he could tolerate much more of this running away nonsense.

"You have to finish these math problems. If you don't, I'm going to cook Akamaru for dinner."

In the earlier days of their odd partnership, Zabuza was sure that this threat would have caused some kind of distress within both of them. Now, though, Kiba merely sneered at him and growled, "You love him too much!"

The man rolled his eyes, forced his head down so he was looking down at the problems, and walked away from him.

Seated on one of the two beds inside of the small hotel, Gaara and Haku were looking at him with rapt attention.

… This was his life… He was merely entertainment for three children… Why in the world did he even _bother?_

… _Right_ … Weapons of mass destruction. _Loyal_ weapons. That's what he wanted out of these three brats.

Suppressing the exasperated sigh he wanted to release, Zabuza walked over to them, plopped the growling puppy into Haku's hands, and told the kid to watch after him. He had already learned that, no matter how much he threatened or grouched, Gaara was not someone he could trust with when it came to keeping Akamaru under control. The kid liked him too much to ever stop him from having his way.

These two followed rules somewhat well… Haku was better at listening to him than Gaara, but that was simply because the Suna native was (unfortunately) always influenced by Kiba.

"Did you run your training exercises?"

"Yes."

"Did you finish the work I gave you?"

Once again, both of them nodded.

Turning to look over at Kiba, the man found the kid glaring down at the math problem and hissing at them.

How someone could hate math so much was well and truly beyond Zabuza…

"Once Kiba finishes, I'll have you three spar to see how far you've come."

~/~

It took Kiba three hours to finish the twenty simple problems.

Zabuza was just about ready to call it quits on him and allow him to live his life without knowing how to complete anything related to numbers.

Outside in the forest, Kiba was all energy and excitement. He loved the idea of being able to fight against his friends to see just how much he had learned under Zabuza's tutelage.

Gaara was equally excited, with his bright green eyes showing off how truly eager he was to be able to spend even more time with his friends. Zabuza knew that Gaara wasn't really excited for the fighting- he was a much more peaceful soul than Kiba. Instead, he was eager to be able to see Kiba in action.

(For some reason beyond him, Gaara truly thought that Kiba was a genius and his word was final. This was Zabuza's greatest regret of having allowed their friendship to form.)

And Haku was composed, but Zabuza could see the spark of worry within his eyes. Even though he had yet to fully gage the extent of Haku's abilities, he knew that the kid was extremely powerful- his clan had been potent for a reason, after all. Most probably, he was worried over hurting his friends.

Outside in a clearing within the forest; far away from the hotel they were staying in; Zabuza watched over his students as they fought with each other.

The first spar was between Kiba and Haku and it did not take a genius to know that the oldest of the two was holding back during the whole fight. While Kiba used brute forced to back Haku into a corner, the boy with the long hair merely deflected the attacks and kept up a perfect, yet frustrating defense.

The winner of the match was decided by him after five minutes of a continuous onslaught that lost no energy. Kiba bared his teeth with pride while Haku merely sighed in clear relief.

As he pondered over who he should have spar with Gaara- Kiba would undoubtedly get hurt, Haku wouldn't fight him, and he knew that if he faced the kid, Gaara would begin to worry about his skills and that was _not_ something he needed- a strange chakra signature entered their clearing.

Zabuza immediately turned around to see who was foolish enough to cross his path, expecting to see some cocky and overeager bounty hunter eager to cash in on his head.

What he found, though, reminded him more of a hermit than anything else.

With a large cloak draped over its hunched body, a large figure hobbled over to them. Zabuza was not able to see a face, although he did know that there was a head to speak of from the hood pulled over it.

Instead of introducing himself, the figure walked directly to Gaara.

The young boy looked at him with wide green eyes, a broad smile suddenly appearing on his chubby face.

"Sasori!"

As soon as he heard the name, Zabuza was sent on edge.

This was Sasori? _Sasori of the Red Sands?!_ What in the world was he doing here?

"Gaara… I have been looking for you."

"You have?" Gaara suddenly jumped up, hands wrapping around what Zabuza presumed to be the man's neck. "Oh, Sasori, you've got to meet my family! They're awesome!"

"Who's Sasori?" Kiba called out to Gaara, who smiled over at him and jumped down from hugging the man so he could pull him over to Kiba.

"Sasori's only the best person in the world!" The kid answered animatedly, then pouted softly, "Well, after you, and Mr. Old Man, of course."

Kiba nodded with a smirk, as if proud of his own importance in Gaara's life having been established rather high, and began to walk up to them both.

Zabuza was a good way's away from the kids and the presumed puppeteer. He could run away while the puppeteer was too busy paying attention to the brats… No, he wouldn't manage to get very far if he chose to do that. Sasori was too good a ninja to properly run away from if he hadn't been wounded. Besides, if he did that, he'd have to leave the brats behind. And if he did that, all of his headaches would have been for nothing.

"Mr. Old Man?" Sasori's gravelly, deep, and incredibly _inhuman_ sounding voice rumbled from beneath the cloak, turning his covered head in the direction Zabuza was standing in.

The Missing Nin regretted most of his life choices in that very instant.

But there wasn't much to do.

So he dug himself deeper into his grave.

"Zabuza. Kid refuses to call me by my name."

"Because I have to be respectful!"

So infuriatingly respectful...

"Zabuza Momochi." The man's attention was taken by Sasori once more as the man began to lumber in his direction. "I've heard of you... You took something precious from me. I don't take kindly to-"

"Hey, Sasori, don't be mad with him. I _wanted_ him to take me."

Zabuza frowned at Gaara, but stayed silent.

The kid was trying to save him?

He had to suppress the small smirk that wanted to grow on his face.

 _Loyal weapons_

 **Please review!**


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